Residential vehicle charging system with interpersonal payment option

Abstract

A vehicle charging system includes a power supply connected to the electrical system of a personal residence, the power supply including a charging station adapted to be connected to a vehicle to permit charging of a power storage unit in the vehicle. The system also includes a power meter adapted to determine an amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle in a charging session, and a communication device to connect with a remote electronic device. The communication device has a transmitter and a receiver to transmit and receive information from the remote electronic device, and the communication device has a control interface by which the payment information is adapted to be transferred to transfer funds to a recipient as a function of the amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle charging system, comprising:
 a power supply connected to the electrical system of a personal residence, the power supply including a charging station adapted to be connected to a vehicle to permit charging of a power storage unit in the vehicle;   a power meter adapted to determine an amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle in a charging session; and   a communication device adapted to connect with a remote electronic device, the communication device having a transmitter that provides an output indicative of the amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle in the charging session, the communication device having a receiver adapted to receive information from the remote electronic device, and the communication device has a control interface by which the payment information is adapted to be transferred to transfer funds to a recipient as a function of the amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the power supply is an electrical system of a residence. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the power meter is part of a charging station at the residence. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the power meter is part of the electrical system of the residence. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3  wherein the control interface is adapted to communicate with a third-party payment service to permit a transfer of funds to the payment recipient device via the third-party payment service. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the control interface includes a controller and memory including instructions for communication with the remote electronic device and the third-party payment service. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the third-party payment service includes a credit card, debit card, digital wallet or peer-to-peer payment service. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  which also includes a remote system having a backend portion configured to communicate with the communication device for exchange of information between the communication device and the backend portion. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the remote system having the backend portion is part of a secure, cloud-based network adapted to communicate with the communication device to receive information from the communication device about a charging session. 
     
     
         10 . A method of determining and effecting payment for use of a personal vehicle charging station, comprising:
 determining an amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle power storage system in a charging session;   determining a monetary amount for the amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle power storage system in the charging session;   requesting from a remote electronic device payment of the monetary amount; and   providing an interface for payment of the monetary amount from the remote electronic device to a recipient.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the interface includes one or more of a credit card portal, debit card portal, digital wallet portal or peer-to-peer payment service. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the step of determining an amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle power storage system in a charging session is accomplished by connection of a remote electronic device with a power meter, where the power meter provides to the remote electronic device an output indicative of the amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle power storage system in a charging session. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the step of determining a monetary amount for the amount of electricity used to charge the vehicle power storage system in the charging session is accomplished by reference to an established cost for the electricity used to charge the vehicle power storage system in the charging session. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the established cost may be stored in a memory device, available in a remote database, or entered manually into a device used to determine the monetary amount. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the device used to determine the monetary amount includes a mobile phone, tablet or personal computing device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the interface is provided on the mobile phone, tablet or personal computing device. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the interface permits manual entry of the monetary amount. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the power meter is a vehicle control system that controls the rate at which charging of the vehicle power storage system occurs, and wherein the remote electronic device is communicated with the vehicle control system. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the remote electronic device is connected with the vehicle control system via a wireless local area network or by a wired connection of the device to a port of the vehicle.